Russia-Ukraine war: BBC, CNN, Bloomberg, ABC News and CBS News suspend work in Moscow; here's why

Bloomberg News and CNN have become the latest global media outlets to suspend their operations in Russia. The move comes after after the Kremlin brought in a new law that could mean a jail term of up to 15 years for anyone spreading "fake" information about the country's armed forces.

"We have with great regret decided to temporarily suspend our news gathering inside Russia," Bloomberg quoted the its editor-in-chief John Micklethwait as saying. "The change to the criminal code, which seems designed to turn any independent reporter into a criminal purely by association, makes it impossible to continue any semblance of normal journalism inside the country," Micklethwait said.

CNN said it "will stop broadcasting in Russia while we continue to evaluate the situation and our next steps moving forward."

Earlier, the BBC said that it had no choice but to temporarily suspend its journalists' work in Russia.

BBC Director-General Tim Davie said the legislation "appears to criminalise the process of independent journalism" and that safety of the British Broadcasting Corporation staff is "paramount".

It said that its news service in Russian will continue to operate from outside Russia.

"It leaves us no other option than to temporarily suspend the work of all BBC News journalists and their support staff within the Russian Federation while we assess the full implications of this unwelcome development," said Tim Davie.

He added: "Our BBC News service in Russian will continue to operate from outside Russia. The safety of our staff is paramount and we are not prepared to expose them to the risk of criminal prosecution simply for doing their jobs. I'd like to pay tribute to all of them, for their bravery, determination and professionalism.

"We remain committed to making accurate, independent information available to audiences around the world, including the millions of Russians who use our news services. Our journalists in Ukraine and around the world will continue to report on the invasion of Ukraine," he further said.

Access to BBC websites had already been restricted in Russia. News outlets Deutsche Welle, Meduza and Radio Liberty also had their services limited, Russia's state-owned news agency RIA said.

Also, CBS News has pulled out of Russia. On Friday, a CBS News spokesperson said that the outlet was "not currently broadcasting from Russia as we monitor the circumstances for our team on the ground given the new media laws passed today".

ABC News has also announced that they were suspending broadcasts from Russia as a result of the war.

Published on: Saturday, March 05, 2022, 06:26 PM IST